.dll loads at startup

[zenner]

Hi everyone! Can anybody tel me what I can do to prevent .dll (in this case topsearch.dll) from trying to load when somebody logs on to Windows XP?

Thanks!

 

[þÄ®âÐÖx]

Open your start menu, go to "Run" and type "msconfig" in the run box and click OK. Then open the "startup" tab and look through the list until you find the program that is loading topsearch.dll and uncheck it.

 

[Shakie]

And if that doesn't work. That means that it is embedded somewhere in your registry and you will have to go hunting or get a program like System Mechanic (www.iolo.com) to remove it.

And a good place to start looking is when you first boot your PC. Leave the pop-up open, open your task manager (usaully Ctrl+Alt+Del will get you to it [ XP and 2000 you can use Ctrl+Shift+Esc to directly open it]) find the application, highlight it, then click "go to process" and it should show you what is making it open.

Hope this helps.

 

[zenner]

Well, so far I've tried msconfig and regedit's find feature (even checked through the hkey/.../run key manually) and have found nothing that directly states "topsearch.dll". I know it's a by-product of some adware/spyware that made it onto my machine with KaZaa, though the uninstallation in Kazaa directly resulted in this message always popping up. Ultimately I'd love to find out where this dll is being called from (as you've stated, which app is the key) so I can remove the cause and fix the symptom.

 

[zenner]

Oh yeah, I even tried sysedit to be sure it wasn't some legacy job. If I'm missing something (I'm about to try system mechanic to be sure) please let me know. This is as good of a chance to learn something new for me as it is a chance to get this annoying thing off my system. thanks again!! I'll look forward to more replies.